Monday, December 14, 2015

To Be Like Mary

One of the most striking
things about Mary is that she believed the angel Gabriel. She does ask how she could
be a virgin and have a baby, but she doesn’t doubt that it will happen.

Gabriel tells her two
significant things. He tells her that God Himself will place Himself in her
womb through the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, he tells her of Elizabeth’s pregnancy
and states, “For nothing is impossible with God.”

Mary was young and she
simply believed God. As I get older, sometimes I feel more like Zachariah than
Mary. It should be just the opposite. With a history of seeing God’s work over
the years, one would think we’d grow more confident with age, but that’s not
always the case.

As we become more
knowledgeable of the world and see the spiritual and physical struggle between
good and evil, we can become somewhat jaded. At times we feel like protecting
ourselves from God’s plan when woe and destruction comes our way. We, in a
sense, make theological excuses for God when it appears He is not at work.

We get comfortable with our
surroundings and don’t expect God to work in powerful ways. We can resist
stepping out in faith and belief that God is all-powerful and He actually does powerful things instead of just
being able to do powerful things. To
grow old in our American Christian culture can dull instead of sharpening our faith.

Maybe that’s why I like
working around teenagers who see risks as adventurous—who are more willing to “put
God out there” so to speak, who are willing to live a not so guarded
Christianity.

Oh, to be like Mary—to simply
respond, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”